Carry On Hunting
by RubyLoren
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester go back to the good old days of saving people and hunting things. However, as the hunt continues, they discover that something much more twisted than your average supernatural monster is blazing a deadly trail across the USA. Will Sam and Dean be a match for this new breed of monster?
1. Introduction

"This is lame." Harry Knightley scuffed his shoes through the autumn leaves as they traipsed up the hill.

"Come on, this is way cooler than sitting at home and watching 'Jurassic Park' again. Like, no one's been here in years. We'll be legends when we tell everyone!" Luke shone the torch into Harry's eyes and he shielded his face.

"This place gives me the creeps," Reece Martin, the smallest member of the group, nodded across at a hulking shape that was a shadow out of the torchlight. "Is that another of those freaky dino-mutants?" Luke flicked the torch across and they all stared in silence for a moment at a nearly headless T-Rex, it's papier-mâché insides on display and its strange pale blue, red paint rimmed eyes, staring up from the brown neck at them.

"Urgh!" Reece shivered and Luke grinned.

"Hey, at least they haven't started moving… yet." The torch went below his chin and he looked eery and skeletal. Harry moved up and patted Reece on the back.

"Ignore him. He's just trying to trick us into thinking we're having fun, which seriously isn't going to happen." Luke tried to look upset, but couldn't manage it for long.

"You're both losers. You'll be thanking me once we get to… Mystery Hill! Where time and space make no sense…" He waggled his fingers at them and Harry rolled his eyes.

"It's a dumb building built on a slope. Real mystery. But if that's what it's going to take to get you to shut up so we can go home and chill out, then let's just get on with it. I don't know why you thought it was such a good idea to come here anyway, it's definitely trespassing." He bit his tongue as Luke swung the light back into his face.

"Pussy." Harry raised a hand to shield his eyes.

"Dick!" He responded and ran through the leaves to try and take the torch off of Luke.

He never made it.

His foot caught on something concealed beneath the autumn deluge and he fell hard on the side of the hill, crying out in pain as his ankle twisted and his knee glanced off something solid.

"This place is a death trap," he muttered angrily as he shifted the leaves with his hands to see what he'd fallen over. After a few moments of digging, the board that had hit his knee came into view. Slightly engraved, its yellow paint practically peeled off, were the words 'Mystery Maze'.

"Never heard of a maze anywhere near here," Luke commented when he'd examined the sign too. There was a moment's pause and then all three boys started digging through the leaves until shortly the entrance to an angled tunnel appeared on the hillside, a little to the left of the sign. Luke let out a low whistle as he shone the torch into the deep blackness. Behind the three boys, the wind got up and blew down the tunnel. It must have remained hidden ever since the park had closed.

"Look, it's boarded up," Reece said as Luke stepped through the archway. Harry followed his pointing finger and noted the paltry crisscross of two wooden beams with a 'no entry' sign hung at a jaunty angle. Not exactly Fort Knox.

"Come on, this might actually turn out to be interesting after all," Harry said, giving Reece a light push so they could follow Luke's already fading light. All the time they were walking down the shaft, which seemed to be leading them to the heart of the hill, Harry was racking his brains for anything he could remember about there being a maze here. He'd never heard it mentioned, and he only lived a mile down the road. Had the park owners been halfway through working on a new attraction when they'd gone bankrupt and closed? That would explain it. It was highly likely that this tunnel just came to a dead end.

"Why would anyone build a maze under a hill anyway?" He muttered, thinking of how much it must have cost to make. If it actually existed, anyway.

"You guys have to see this," Luke called from up ahead and Harry and Reece jogged up to where he was standing. All three of them stood in silence and stared at what lay before them.

"I didn't realise this hill was so big," Harry said, as he took in the vast cavern they were in. Now it made sense why they'd built the maze here. With the exception of the entrance tunnel, this place must have been readymade for it. Mystery Hill was one of earth's natural air bubbles.

"This…. has to be, like, the best find ever. Now who's going to race me to the centre?" Luke said, his ever present grin stretching even more. Reece and Harry looked uneasily at the seemingly endless landscape of stone walls that made up the largest maze they'd ever seen in their lives.

"I dunno about that. It looks like you could get seriously lost in there," Harry said, trying to sound serious and unafraid.

"It's too weird, I don't like it. We can say we found it and everyone will think that's cool. Let's go back now," Reece joined in and Harry instantly knew he'd stuck his foot in it. Luke drew himself up to his full height and gave them both disappointed looks.

"You're saying that we've come all this way just so we can go back and tell other people this really cool thing is here? When they ask us 'so what's it like in the maze, what's at the middle?' we'll have to tell them we just stood here and wimped out about going in?! No way! That's balls and you know it. It's like travelling halfway across the world and seeing India for the first time and then turning back around without setting foot on land." He shook his head. "You're bringing shame upon our forefather's memories." Harry raised a hand to stop Luke from getting further into his motivational speech.

"Fine. Whatever. Let's just have a look and then get out of here. It's cold and I don't want to get caught by the cops. God, why can't you be satisfied with an evening in on the Xbox like normal people our age?" Harry muttered and Luke flashed him a megawatt grin before striding towards the start of the maze. Harry shuffled along after him with Reece trailing even further behind.

Luke's flair for being different was what had drawn Harry to become his friend in the first place, but tonight was one of those times he would have settled for a little less adventure. It felt like something was playing xylophone up and down his spine as he got closer to the green mossed concrete walls.

Luke was first into the maze and the instant he rounded the corner, Harry and Reece were left in darkness. The paused for a millisecond longer and then hurried after the torchbearer.

"Hey, what if we get lost or something?" Reece said after they'd been walking for thirty seconds. Luke snorted.

"It's a maze, that's kind of the whole point."

"Yeah, but I mean like, really lost." Luke shook his head and walked a little faster, turning left at random.

"It's a dumb theme park attraction, not some mythical labyrinth of death." Harry noticed Reece's lip quiver at the mention of 'death' and wished Luke would quit with the drama. His eyes happened to fix on the concrete wall to the left of Luke's head and he frowned at the four parallel scratches that were ingrained in the concrete. Were those claw marks? Then again, this had once been part of a prehistoric theme park. It was probably one of the special effects. He screwed up his eyes as he passed the mark and felt another ghost step on his grave when he thought he could pick out dark rust coloured flecks in the gouges.

"I think we've gone far enough Luke. This thing seems to be going on forever and I'm starving. If you really want, we can come back and do this properly with supplies and stuff."

"Yeah in the daytime," Reece added. For a moment Harry thought that Luke was going to ignore them again but he stopped walking, hefting the torch between his hands.

"Okay fine. I guess we got this far. But not a word of this place to anyone until we can come back and get to the middle of it, okay?" The others nodded, already thinking gratefully of popcorn and grilled cheese sandwiches with some _Call of Duty._ Reece started walking back the way they'd come and Harry followed, but both boys stopped as they reached the edge of the torchlight.

"Are you coming, or what?" Harry said, turning back to Luke who hadn't moved from the spot. "Luke?" His friend's eyes were staring straight at him but there was something fixed about his expression. As Harry moved closer, the torch dropped from Luke's hand and hit the concrete floor with a bang. By some miracle, it didn't go out. The shadowy light cast everything in dramatic contrast which is why it was only when Harry was three metres away that he finally discovered what was wrong.

Something was sticking out of Luke's neck.

Harry was about to step closer when he heard a steady drip and his eyes were drawn down to the floor where a dark wet pool was gathering around Luke's feet. The blood looked black in the dim light. Luke's body suddenly jerked and Harry took another step forwards, deceived into believing his friend was still alive. A horrible guttural groan cut through the empty air and Luke was thrown against the concrete wall, which he hit and then slid down, leaving a bright smear of blood before landing in a lifeless heap. Harry was transfixed as the object which had pierced Luke's neck began to move forwards, turning the corner of the maze that had concealed it.

Harry's eyes bulged as the shadow of the monster towered above him. He was distantly aware of Reece screaming hysterically at him to run, but it all seemed so unreal. It was impossible. Harry Knightley just went on staring as the impossible creature reached out and picked him up, raising him to head height and meeting his gaze with its own dead eyes – far worse than those of the papier-mâché monsters. Harry's legs twitched as he finally realised he was no longer on the ground.

"No…" his voice grated as the beast opened its mouth and tore his face off, crunching through bone and flesh in a single bite.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm currently giving away a free paranormal thriller fans of Supernatural will love!<strong>

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	2. Dean Winchester, Dinosaur Rider

CHAPTER ONE

**Dean Winchester, Dinosaur Rider**

"Did you get the pie?" Dean grabbed the plastic bag from Sam's hands and eagerly rooted around the salad bowl and fresh fruit that were blocking the good stuff. Sam leant against the side of the Impala and unfolded the newspaper he'd just picked up.

"Huh!" Dean looked up from his mouthful of pecan pie and raised his eyebrows. "Three teenagers went missing from near Port Clinton in Ohio. Their parents think they may have gone to a nearby abandoned prehistoric theme park but when the police investigated, they found no trace of Harry Knightley, Luke Anderson and Reece Martin. You think it could be our kind of gig?" Dean shrugged, his mouth full of pie.

"It's not like we have any other leads. Also, an abandoned prehistoric theme park? That's practically begging for some kind of monster to move in." Sam refolded the paper and slid into the passenger seat of the car.

"Dude, what happened to my salad?" Dean looked down at the squashed plastic box and shrugged.

"It was obstructing the pie." Sam rescued his battered salad from the floor of the car.

"You're unbelievable." Dean grinned at him, his cheeks still stuffed with pastry.

"It's not like I could make that thing taste any worse," he commented, and turned on the radio before Sam could reply. _Bon Jovi's_ 'Raise Your Hands' blasted out over the purr of the Impala's engine as Dean turned the car out of the parking lot and they took to the highway.

Four hours later, they pulled up outside the police station in Port Clinton. Dean turned and looked out across the lake, a wintery breeze carrying the muddy smell of the water, blowing in his face. He could see a small collection of houses on a distant bank but other than that, it was a whole lot of trees and grass.

"Are you coming?" Sam was about to push open the door to the station. Dean shook hims head and followed.

"Yeah. I was just thinking. It's always these country places that land the most messed up stuff. It's proof – the countryside and fresh air is bad for you." Sam rolled his eyes and they walked in, both flashing their badges at the officer sat behind the reception desk.

"Hendrix and Clapton, FBI," Dean rattled off, snapping the badge shut before the guy could get a good look.

"FBI? You must be here for the missing boys case, although I didn't think anyone else had been called in. We haven't exhausted all of our leads yet." Sam frowned at the officer's sulky tone.

"No? Well our policy is to arrive while there's still some chance of the missing persons being alive. So excuse me if we don't wait around." The officer turned away, still muttering. He came back with the case file. Dean snatched it from him.

"Thank you," he said with a tight smile.

"These middle of nowhere places are full of the worst people as well as the worst monsters," Dean commented once they were back by the Impala. Sam flicked through the file.

"We should go and visit the parents. It says here that all three of the missing teens were meant to be having a sleepover round Luke Anderson's house, only they snuck out and their absence was discovered the next morning." Sam frowned at the notes the police had made about dubious parenting.

* * *

><p>"Mrs Anderson? We're investigating the disappearances of your son, Reece Martin and Harry Knightley, may we come in?" The woman in her thirties with a power bob hair cut nodded and stood aside. Sam and Dean walked into the front room and Sam was struck by the number of family photos which adorned the walls and shelves. This was a family that at least on the surface appeared to care for each other a lot.<p>

Once they'd sat down and declined the offer of tea, Sam started off by asking Mrs Anderson how the boys had managed to sneak out without her knowledge. He wanted to put the whole 'dubious parenting' thing to rest.

"They were down here in the lounge playing some video game. I could still hear it making noise when I went to bed and in the morning it was still on. I wrongly assumed that the sound meant they were all fine and I wanted to give them space, you know what teenage boys are like. They don't need a mum cramping their style! I'm single you know," she dropped in with a casual glance in Sam's direction. Sam cleared his throat.

"So you believe that they went to the Prehistoric Park and a place called Mystery Hill?" Mrs Anderson's gaze intensified but Sam pretended not to notice.

"Yes, one of their friends… Rob. He said he got a text from Luke saying that they were going there that night, inviting him along. That was the last time they contacted anybody." She made a small choking sound and Sam and Dean were alarmed to see her tearing up.

"We're very sorry to have to put you through this," Dean said and she waved a hand at them.

"No, no, it's okay. I'll do anything if I can just get my boy back. I'm sorry, I just really need a hug," she said, and before Sam could move, she'd slid herself next to him on the sofa and was nuzzling his plaid shirt. Dean winked and Sam glared at him.

* * *

><p>"I'm guessing it's almost Prehistoric Park time?" Dean asked when Sam had escaped from Mrs Anderson's clutches and they were sat in a small coffee shop in town. Sam shrugged and looked at his laptop screen again.<p>

"Well, the police have been all over it in theory, but yeah, it's our only lead." He shut the lid of the laptop and sighed. "I'm still not convinced there's anything weird going on here. Poor kids probably got grabbed by a passing car and are locked up in a basement somewhere."

"It's a sick world Sammy," Dean agreed. "But even if it's nothing, I still want to ride a T-Rex today." He grinned and Sam rolled his eyes.

"You are so immature."

* * *

><p>The bitter wind blew leaves across the cracked concrete of the deserted parking lot. Dean slammed the door of the Impala and stood, looking at the decaying theme park.<p>

"Come on Sam, you can't tell me this isn't creepy as hell." He walked up to a mammoth with red painted eyes and pulled a face. "That is so, so wrong."

"Still want to ride your T-Rex?" Sam said with a smile and Dean shook his head.

"Man, I would not put it past these things to come alive and come after us with their horrible dead eyes."

"And their papier-mâché claws," Sam added, tapping on a nearby Triceratops. "I don't think we have much to worry about. I'm surprised they haven't all melted in the rain." Dean looked at the mammoth once more and shuddered, before they began the long climb up to Mystery Hill.

"So what is this mystery place? One of those things where the laws of physics have no meaning like The Mystery Spot? Only, I am not willingly walking into anything like that again." Sam frowned.

"You weren't the one living in 'Groundhog Day'."

"Yeah, but I still died." Sam pushed his hands into his pockets and decided not to argue the point.

"It's not like that anyway. I read the old website write up. Apparently it's just been built at a weird angle to mess with your mind so tennis balls roll upwards and so on." Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I can see why this place went bust."

They walked on in silence, both listening and looking around for anything that might give them a hint that the missing boys had passed through this way. When they were almost at the top of the hill, Sam found some footprints in the mud and pointed them out to Dean.

"Those look like sneaker prints to you? I think our guys were here at least." He looked around at the forest, which was empty apart from a few broken dinosaur pieces. "There's nowhere else for them to go," Sam concluded once they'd searched the house on Mystery Hill. Their EMF readers had picked up nothing. Zilch. All the signs suggested there was absolutely nothing supernatural going on here.

"Bummer," Dean said as they began traipsing back down the hill towards the car. That was when he stepped on a bunch of leaves and his foot disappeared into nothing.

Sam spun round and discovered his brother was nowhere to be seen.

"Dean? Dean!"

"I'm okay, Sammy!" Sam ran over to the pile of leaves, next to a steep incline on the hill, just in time to see his brother emerge. Dean brushed himself down and looked at the place where he'd fallen.

"Is it just me, or does it look like this big bunch of leaves is hiding something?"

They started digging and pretty soon a narrow tunnel in the side of the hill emerged.

"I don't think the police looked down here," Dean said and walked into the tunnel. Sam looked at small wooden sign with its peeling yellow paint that read 'Mystery Maze' for a second, before he followed Dean over the criss-crossed boards with their hanging no entry sign.

"Why would anyone build a maze under a hill, anyway?" Sam wondered, unknowingly echoing Harry's words when he'd passed through here just two nights ago.

Dean let out a low whistle as Sam reached the end of the tunnel and walked out into the large space with him.

"Someone around here has been keeping very quiet about this," Dean said and nodded at the vast concrete walls of the maze. "I didn't realise this hill was so damned big inside!"

"Well, I think we can officially chalk this us as 'something weird'," Sam said and got out his EMF reader. "Nope, still nothing."

"Did you hear that?" Dean looked at Sam, wanting confirmation he hadn't imagined that roar. The scream which followed it convinced him that he had.

Both hunters sprinted towards the entrance of the maze, not realising just how much trouble they were about to run into.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm currently giving away a free paranormal thriller fans of Supernatural will love!<strong>

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	3. The Man and the Myth

CHAPTER TWO

**The Man and the Myth**

"Ever get the feeling you're about to get more than you bargained for?" Sam said when they'd slowed to a more cautious walk and were scoping every dank corner they turned.

"All the damn time," Dean said, annoyed that they only had one torch between them. But then, they hadn't counted on discovering a hidden underground maze complete with a mystery monster.

A mystery monster which had gone a little too quiet.

"Hey Dean! Hey!" Sam broke into a jog and Dean suddenly realised there was something up ahead of them. He felt his heartbeat jump at the sight of the unmoving bundle of clothing. It looked like a body.

Sam crouched down and then raised his eyebrows at Dean before starting to shake the small bundle.

"Hey, wake up. It's okay, we're here to get you out of here." The body twitched and then scrabbled away from Sam, hitting the wall hard. Now Dean could see they were looking at a terrified teenager. Sam raised his hands. "It's okay, we're here to help. Could you tell me what happened?" The teenager's eyes flared wide and Dean noticed his hair was plastered to his scalp with sweat. This kid looked like he'd run until he'd fallen down.

"It's coming. It's coming for us! I can't run anymore," he said in a hoarse voice.

"What is? What's in the maze?" Sam pressed. The boy's eyes glazed and he didn't respond.

"What killed your friends?" Dean jumped in and the teenager's eyes bulged.

"M...m… Minotaur," he stammered. Sam frowned at Dean and opened his mouth to ask more questions. That was when they heard the sound of snorted breath. Something was just about to turn the corner.

"Did he just say Minotaur?" Dean said and looked down at his puny dagger in alarm. That wasn't going to do much good.

"Yeah, he did. But it's okay, they don't exist Dean. I've never read about it." There was a deafening roar and all three turned to see the seven foot tall man with a bull's head step out from one of the maze paths.

"The books were wrong Sammy. The books were wrong!" Dean grabbed the small teenager and started running. Sam stared for a second longer and then followed, realising that there was no way they could take this monster on without some weapons with serious stopping power. Their only chance was to get out of the maze without being caught.

Sam thought he could feel the heat emanating from his pursuer as he sprinted down the long corridors. He was losing the race. They weren't going to get out the maze alive.

In desperation, Sam swung round and fired his revolver at the charging beast. Two bullets hit - chest and shoulder - and Sam paused for long enough to see the monster's hairy skin spit those bullets straight back out again. The Minotaur stopped to roar some more. Sam ran.

"I think we're almost at the entrance," Dean said, gasping for breath as they sprinted round another corner.

"We are! I've been trying to get out ever since everything happened, but it was always in the way," the teen gasped and suddenly he was leading the pack, sheer terror giving him speed. It probably had something to do with the inexplicable hell thing that was once more, only a few metres behind them.

Dean ran out of the maze and turned just in time to see the Minotaur grab Sam's collar and pull him back.

"Oh no you don't!" Dean jumped forwards and pulled Sam with all his might, not expecting to win this tug of war. His sudden pull jerked Sam and the Minotaur forwards, just enough so that Sam was over the threshold of the maze for a moment.

There was a blinding electrical flash and a loud bang, followed by the smell of scorched flesh.

Dean blinked and discovered he was on the floor, several metres away from where he had been.

"Sam?"

"I'm okay… I think." Sam rolled over and Dean's eyebrows shot up. Sam's hair was a huge ball of static.

"Looking good afro man," Dean said with a smirk. Sam's hands shot to his head and he made a noise of horror. "If you had it cut to a normal length, this wouldn't have happened. I'm just sayin." Sam shook his head and then spun back round to stare at the maze entrance. They'd forgotten the Minotaur.

It was still there, just five metres away from them. There was a horrified pause as the hunters waited to see if it would come after them, but it just stood inside the entrance of the maze, staring with obvious hate.

"Huh! Do you think that whatever shocked me keeps him inside?" Sam said and walked back towards the maze entrance.

"Sam! Sam! What are you doing?" Dean pulled a pained face and then trotted after his brother. They'd only just managed to escape this monster and now he was walking straight back into its clutches?

"I'm just looking for something," Sam muttered, tilting his head and squinting at the concrete blocks on either side of the maze entrance. Somehow he was managing to ignore the towering freakish beast that was only a metre away. Dean stared the monster down, his knife feeling small and pathetic in his sweating hand.

"Sam, can we just get back to the car and grab some guns and do the figuring out later? Sam, no!" His brother had just stuck his hand into the maze and the reaction of the Minotaur was to instantly claw for him. The electrical flash came just after Sam jerked his hand back over the threshold and the Minotaur's knuckles grazed the invisible line.

"So there really is something keeping that thing in there," Dean said with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, I guess that explains why no one else has died so far. This thing looks like it could chew through a whole town," Sam commented. The Minotaur was still staring at them. Dean pulled a face.

"Dude, you fugly." Sam's forehead creased, unsatisfied with the results of his investigation of the maze wall and its mysterious invisible force field. Unfortunately, they had other things to worry about right now. The teenager they'd rescued from the maze had vanished.

"We'll be back. Don't go anywhere," Dean flashed the Minotaur a smile, before following Sam back towards the tunnel that had led to the maze. Behind them, they heard the monster roar in rage at its escaped prey.

When the hunters returned, the tables would have turned.

"So what are we thinking? Nut job serial killer in a mask or genuine monster?" Dean asked, sliding a coffee over to Sam. The teenager, Reece, was currently staying fifty miles away with their hunter friend Riley. They all felt bad about making the teen's parents wait and worry, but as they'd explained to Reece, when he told the police his story, they wouldn't believe it and when they went to check it out, they'd be horribly unprepared for what lived in the maze. More people would die. Fortunately, Reece had been okay with that. In fact, he wanted to forget the whole thing. It was at times like these that Dean wished he had one of those flashy things that 'The Men In Black' had that made you forget stuff.

"I've been doing some research and no one has ever seen a Minotaur since… well,** the** Minotaur_." _Sam shook his head. "I'd say it wasn't real but I shot it twice and watched the bullets pop back out. That's definitely supernatural. Also, how did the force field work? All I can think is that it must recognise DNA and reject it. That's why we got through but the Minotaur didn't. But that raises the question…"

"Who wants to keep the Minotaur in the maze?" Dean finished, and frowned. "I think we've got some more digging to do."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm currently giving away a free paranormal thriller fans of Supernatural will love!<strong>

**Pop over to my website to get your copy of Samedi and Souls: rubyloren(dotcom)/samedi-and-souls-free-copy/**


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